The Gallows Bird

The new psychological thriller from No 1 bestselling Swedish crime sensation Camilla Lackberg. A woman is found dead, apparently the victim of a tragic car crash. It's the first in a spate of seemingly inexplicable accidents in Tanumshede and marks the end of a quiet winter for detective Patrik Hedstrom and his colleagues. At the same time a reality TV show is being shot in the town. As cameras shadow the stars' every move, relations with the locals are strained to breaking point. When a drunken party ends with a particularly unpopular contestant's murder, the cast and crew are obvious suspects. Could there be a killer in their midst? As the country tunes in, the bodies mount up. Under the intense glare of the media spotlight, Patrik faces his toughest investigation yet!

Läckberg is a young (born 1974), very talented Swedish crime writer. She was voted Swedish Writer of the Year for 2005. Her books have so far sold in millions in Europe, where she was the 6th bestselling author last year, ahead of among others John Grisham. Her books – including The Ice Princess – feature an interesting couple – the police detective Patrik Hedstrom of the Tanumshede police and his wife, author Erica Falck.

Camilla Läckberg became a writer after her husband and parents enrolled her in a writing course as a Christmas present. She was Sweden’s best-selling author in 2006. The same year she also won the People’s Literature Prize. And The Ice Princess, very well translated by Steven T. Murray, was the winner of France’s 2008 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for Best International Crime Novel. Even so, it is not her best book – Camilla Läckberg has developed a lot both as a plotter and as a writer over time, and her later books are even better than this.